Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born Jun/18/1942) was a founding member of The Beatles. He was called "the cute Beatle". He was the group's lefty. Paul was the only beatle other than George to not complain about Beatlemania. McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the most successful musician and composer in popular music history, with 60 gold discs and sales of 100 million singles. His song "Yesterday" (credited to Lennon/McCartney, as all songs written by either Lennon or McCartney during their partnership as Beatles were, but composed entirely by McCartney —John Lennon) is listed as the most covered song in history—by over 3,500 artists so far—and has been played more than 7,000,000 times on American television and radio. Wings' 1977 single "Mull of Kintyre" became the first single to sell more than two million copies in the UK, and remains the UK's top selling non-charity single. According to britishhitsongwriters.com he is the most successful songwriter in UK singles chart history, based on weeks that his compositions have spent on the chart. As a performer or songwriter, McCartney was responsible for 32 number one singles on the U.S. Hot 100 chart. Following the death of his first wife Linda in 1998, McCartney married Heather Mills in 2002. They divorced in 2008. McCartney is now partners with Nancy Shevell. McCartney practices meditation, using the mantra that the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi gave him when The Beatles went to a TM seminar in 1967. McCartney is an advocate for animal rights, vegetarianism, and music education; he is active in campaigns against landmines, seal hunting, and Third World debt. McCartney is one of Britain's wealthiest men, with an estimated fortune of £750 million ($1.2 billion) in 2009. Business McCartney is one of Britain's wealthiest musicians, with an estimated fortune of £750 million ($1.2 billion) in 2009,[222] although Justice Bennett, in his judgement on McCartney's divorce case found no evidence that McCartney was worth more than £400 million.[151] In December 1998, he was approached to purchase a stake in Everton Football Club by former school friend Bill Kenwright who wished to put a consortium together but McCartney chose to decline the offer.[223] In addition to his interest in Apple Corps, McCartney's MPL Communicationsowns a significant music publishing catalogue, with access to over 25,000 copyrights.[224] McCartney earned £40 million in 2003, making him Britain's highest media earner.[225] This rose to £48.5 million by 2005.[226] In the same year he joined the top American talent agency Grabow Associates, who arrange private performances for their richest clients.[227] Northern Songs was established in 1963, by Dick James, to publish the songs of Lennon/McCartney.[228] The Beatles' partnership was replaced in 1968 by a jointly held company, Apple Corps, which continues to control Apple's commercial interests. Northern Songs was purchased byAssociated TeleVision (ATV) in 1969, and was sold in 1985 to Michael Jackson. For many years McCartney was unhappy about Jackson's purchase and handling of Northern Songs.[229] MPL Communications is an umbrella company for McCartney's business interests, which owns a wide range of copyrights,[230] as well as the publishing rights to musicals.[231] In 2006, the Trademarks Registry reported that MPL had started a process to secure the protections associated with registering the name "Paul McCartney" as a trademark.[232] The 2005 films,Brokeback Mountain[233] and Good Night and Good Luck, feature MPL copyrights.[234] In April 2009, it was revealed that McCartney, in common with other wealthy musicians, had seen a significant decline in his net worth over the preceding year. It was estimated that his fortune had fallen by some £60m, from £238m to £175m.[235] The losses were attributed to the ongoing global recession, and the resultant decline in value of property and stock marketholdings.[235] Early Days Paul McCartney was born on June 18, 1942 to parents Mary McCartney and James McCartney. In 1955, when Paul was only fourteen years old, his mother died of breast cancer. After passing his 11-Plus exam in 1957, Paul enrolled in the Liverpool Institute, where he met future band mate, George Harrison. McCartney was heavily influenced by American Rhythm and Blues music. He has stated that Little Richard was his idol when he was in school and that the first song he ever sang in public was "Long Tall Sally," at a Butlins holiday camp talent competition.White, Charles, p.114-115 (2003). The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorised Biography. Omnibus Press. Paul was introduced to John Lennon and his band The Quarrymen at the St. Peter's Church Hall fête in Woolton on 6 July 1957. McCartney was very interested in music due to the influence of his father, who was once a jazz musician. Paul joined the band, and he and John began writing songs together. Although John was the leader of the band, Paul was always full of ideas. When bassist, Stuart Sutcliffe died, Paul became the group's permanent bassist. The Quarrymen officially changed their name to The Beatles soon after. The Beatles After former drummer Pete Best was kicked out of the band, Ringo Starr was brought in to replace him. The Beatles soon became extremely popular in Britain and America. Paul wrote many famous songs during this time, including "Yesterday," "Hey Jude" and "Let It Be." It wasn't really nessecary, But Paul got a sheepdog named Martha and wrote a song about her. She was one if the first of many McCartney Sheepdogs. The song was called "Martha Mt Dear", it was in The White Album. When Beatles manager Brian Epstein died of a drug overdose, McCartney urged the band to stay together, while the other three members were ready to quit. It was Paul's idea to make a new film, Magical Mystery Tour. Paul McCartney was the only person who wanted to be in a film so the others didn't do it well, the film was a complete disaster. Unfortunately, The Beatles had some creative differences, and Paul announced they had officially broken up on April 10, 1970. The band had been wanting to disband since the death of their manager, Brian Epstein, but McCartney had kept them together. During the break-up times, Paul would try his best to get them back on what they where in 1962-66, other band mates found it annoying and quited. Around the time of the band's breakup, Paul released his first solo album, McCartney. Paul was the last member to quit the band, who stepped out in 1970. References Category:Artists Category:Singles Category:British Category:The Beatles Category:The Beatles' Member